Tabs

17 July 2012

The current Pilot’s Capless line of pens is formed by three basic models—the regular Capless (Vanishing Point in some markets), the slim Capless Decimo, and the twist knob Fermo. The theory goes that all nib units are interchangeable among all the models, and this brought me to say that Capless pens were empty boxes—choose the nib of your preference and dress it up with the body that matched your attire of the day, for instance.

The two Capless pens--the regular size on top, and the slim Decimo on bottom.

That was indeed my intention. I wanted to use a very pleasant F nib in the lighter and slimmer Capless Decimo, but I could not do it. The problem is that golden-looking nib units, made of gold or of stainless steel, are a tad thicker that those plated with Rhodium. As a result, these thicker units do not slide smoothly in their movement inside the Decimo pen. In the worst case, the nib unit becomes stuck inside and does not retract completely.

The origin of the problem lies, upon close inspection, on the notch to lead the nib into the right position inside the pen. On the pictures, it can be seen that those notches are different in size—both bigger and slightly thicker on the golden units.

18 K gold Capless nibs. The differences on the notches are clearly visible on this picture. Their shapes, their sizes,...

...and their thickness are different.

I must also say that my golden-looking nibs are older than those rhodiated, and this issue might have been corrected on later produced units. Or maybe not. Either case, checking this detail in the notch is important for the proper function of the Capless Decimo in connection with a golden nib.